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Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence 2019

I am beyond honoured to have made it as a Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence 2019. This means I’ll get to spend a gloriously unadulterated stretch working on my novel in this stunning and unique North Wales space next summer. It’s somewhere very close to my heart, where much of My Shitty Twenties was written, and I’m following in the footsteps of mega good writers like Naomi Alderman, Sarah Perry and Amy Liptrot. It was a joy to attend the launch salon at the extremely posh National Liberal Club in London last week, where I read from My Shitty Twenties and gave a short speech about what the residency means to me (I can’t remembered everything I said, but I can remember the last line, which just about sums it up: “it means loads”). There’s a misconception that all published authors must be rolling in it and sadly, for most of us, it isn’t the case. As a single mum with sole financial responsibility, I have to have a day job (which thankfully I love), so time ‘just to write’ is precious and rare. I’ll be reading from my book and delivering a talk, Finding Success Through Failure, during my stay. More news nearer the time.